Families confirm Austin children among Camp Mystic flood victims
Officials said the nearly 100-year-old camp, located along the Guadalupe River, was hosting roughly 750 children at the time.
Austinite Michael McCown posted on Instagram that his daughter, Linnie, did not survive the flood at Camp Mystic.
'It's with the heaviest of hearts we must share that our sweet little Linnie is with the Lord in heaven,' McCown said on Instagram. 'She filled our hearts with so much joy we cannot begin to explain.'
McCown confirmed Linnie was a student at Casis Elementary School in Austin. A vigil is planned outside the school at 7:15 p.m. Sunday.
The family of camper Lila Bonner also confirmed to KXAN on Saturday that she was among those killed in the flooding. In a statement, her family said, 'We ache with all who loved her and are praying endlessly for others to be spared from this tragic loss.'
'The Eastlands are the most wonderful family in the world and Dick was trying to save five little girls,' former Mystic camper and the grandmother of one of the children rescued, Peggy Newman, said.
Gov. Greg Abbott said Saturday that first responders have rescued more than 850 people in the last 36 hours. State and local officials have not released the names of those believed to be dead. Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said Sunday morning that 59 people have died, including 21 children. Eleven Camp Mystic campers and one camp counselor remain unaccounted for.
'The rescue has gone as good as can be expected. Now it's time for the recovery,' said Kerr County Judge Roy Kelly. Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief W. Nim Kidd said Saturday that crews are still searching for possible survivors along the length of the Guadalupe River — in the water, on the ground and from the air.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, posted on X, 'So many lives lost. Others unaccounted for […] We are offering condolences, praying with the grieving, and giving thanks for the rescued.'
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
30 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Pearl District residents opposed to homeless shelter
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A new 40-bed homeless shelter planned for the Pearl District brought about 200 people to a public meeting to voice their concerns about crime and drug use. Despite getting a tour of the proposed shelter site around Northwest Northrup, area residents packed the to make their thoughts known even though, they said, city leaders aren't interested in their input. Mayor Keith Wilson was invited to this meeting but 'respectfully declined,' his office told KOIN 6 News. But Wilson's team also said they've been in almost daily communication with some of the neighbors for this proposed shelter, providing information and trying to set up meetings. Neighbors distressed over planned homeless shelter in Portland's Pearl District The shelter will expand from 40 beds to 200 beds by the end of the year. It's part of the broader city initiative to help nearly 600 unsheltered Portlanders off the streets in the Northwest and Pearl District. 'I think what the neighborhood wants and what I would want is people to get back to living healthy, productive lives. And the great question is how to do that, especially when people are deep into, chemical dependency,' Northwest District Association President Todd Zarnitz said. 'And, you know, there's no easy answers, of course. But what we want is to not make the problem worse and make it worse in our backyard, basically.' Kevin Kahn has lived in Portland for nearly five decades. He was one of the hundreds of angry neighbors who packed the Lucky Labrador Monday night. 'Most of that time, I would say, the city has changed incredibly for the better,' Kahn told KOIN 6 News. But he's concerned about the city right now. 'If you don't catch the spiral early, it's a long way back. And I'm really concerned that Portland is in the spiral,' he said. 'And you know, Band-Aids don't fix spirals.' City officials said they're working with the Salvation Army, which is slated to be the site's operator. Portland Solutions is aiming for a late summer opening date, but no specific date is set at this time. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
37 minutes ago
- CBS News
Oakland shelters no longer required to accept surrendered pets
At Tuesday afternoon's meeting, the Oakland City Council approved a new ordinance that would allow its animal shelter to refuse unwanted or abandoned pets being surrendered to their care. The head of Animal Services said it's a best practice, but some volunteers point out that it's only happening because of budget cuts. On Tuesday, if someone had an animal to turn into the shelter, they were out of luck. Prior budget cuts have closed the facility to the public on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. But the new policy, just approved, would allow them to refuse new animals at any time when there just isn't enough room or staff to care for them. Oakland Animal Services Interim Director Joe DeVries said other cities have a similar ordinance. "We want to be abiding by best practices," he said. "But it's also true that by doing that we will make it easier for the staff, so the staffing shortage won't have as severe an impact." Oakland had always been what's known as an "open admissions" shelter. By law, they were required to accept any animal surrendered to them. The new ordinance will give them discretion. But some volunteers, who make up the majority of the shelter's workforce, say it's just an excuse to accept inexcusable cuts to their budget. "What they're changing is, the shelter can say, 'Well, we can't take this dog, we can't take this cat because we no longer have the staffing, the resources, the ability to do it,'" said volunteer Johanna Widger. "And that's the problem. The problem is that they keep cutting the budget. Just recently, they cut eight permanent full-time staffing positions, so we'll have even less people working with the animals. It's just a mess and we want the people of Oakland to know about this." Widger and Willow Liroff donate their time in taking care of the animals in the shelter. They said the new ordinance may be a practical reality, but it will have dire consequences in the future, when people begin abandoning their animals in the community. "We have people in the parking lot letting animals loose. We have people in our streets, at parks. This problem is only going to compound," said Liroff. "We have never seen such a severe and drastic staffing shortage as we have now. To lose eight full-time positions from an already skeleton crew staff is devastating. And the shelter is truly in crisis because of it." And the heartbreaking results were suddenly there to see. A woman arrived carrying a tiny newborn kitten she had just found in the street. "This little baby was under a car, a parked car," she said, expecting to drop it off. But then she was told there was no one available to accept it, and she left with the kitten still in her arms. Whether it lived or died was now her problem. The volunteers said the shelter has been an easy target for the budget ax and they have been dealing with more and more cuts every year. But now, they say they have been cut too far and the solution of turning away animals from an animal shelter is really no solution at all. "I had to bring this up because I think that it's important for people to know that we've had death by a thousand cuts!" said Widger. "With the staffing crisis, there's no easy immediate answer for it, but changing an ordinance is something that is disastrous to the community," said Liroff. Director DeVries said, rather than surrendering their pets, he would prefer a system that tries to connect owners with the help they may need to keep their animals. But the volunteers said, after the budget cuts there is simply no one left in the building to do that.
Associated Press
an hour ago
- Associated Press
National Higher Education Nonprofit Launches Creative Commons Photo Library to Reflect the Realities of Today's Students
Indianapolis, July 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Complete College America (CCA)—a national nonprofit on a mission to raise postsecondary attainment in the United States—today announced the launch of the Complete College Photo Library, a free public collection of Creative Commons photography featuring authentic images of today's college students. The library showcases the wide range of student experiences and campus settings across the country—including community colleges, HBCUs, regional universities and workforce training programs—highlighting how many of today's students are balancing college with jobs, family, and other complex real-world responsibilities. 'College students are more likely to be working learners, parents, veterans, first-generation college-goers, and professionals seeking to upskill, rather than the full-time, residential, straight-from-high-school archetype depicted in the majority of media and publications on higher education,' said Dr. Yolanda Watson Spiva, president of Complete College America. 'The way we depict students—regardless of the medium—has to evolve beyond the outdated stereotypes of the past. This project is about shifting the visual narrative to match the realities.' For decades, the prevailing narrative about higher education in media and public discourse has focused narrowly on traditional, four-year residential colleges and the experiences of students in their late teens. At the same time, recent data from the Common App shows a sharp increase in students who are financially independent, many of whom are returning to college later in life. Nationally, more than one in four students (26%) is raising a child while pursuing their education, and roughly 40% of undergraduates are over 25. Research also shows that today's students attend a broad range of institutions – over 40% of students enrolled in postsecondary education attend community colleges , HBCUs enroll 10% of all Black students in the U.S., and Hispanic Serving Institutions enroll more than 65% of all Hispanic undergraduates. To help produce a more complete picture of the lived realities of today's students, Complete College America invited institutions from across the nationwide CCA Alliance to apply for participation in the inaugural cohort of a new storytelling and visual identity initiative. Through this process, the organization selected seven partner campuses and coordinated a series of multi-day, on-campus photo shoots to create a national library of high-quality, authentic imagery. 'Colleges and universities today are shaped by the unique experiences, backgrounds and identities of our diverse student bodies -- it's what strengthens and binds our community together,' said Eric M. Friedman, President at Bergen Community College. 'Serving as one of the flagship colleges in the Complete College America Photo Library not only speaks to the tapestry of cultures at Bergen Community College, but how those many identities enrich our institution and how we provide visibility for our community members to the entire society.' The result is the newly-unveiled photo library, which now includes nearly 1,000 curated, professional-quality images featuring a wide range of students in real college and workforce settings across the country. The images were captured by renowned photojournalist and photographer Allison Shelley, who traveled to each campus to capture authentic students and scenes. All images are free and accessible for use by all through a Creative Commons license, which ensures that journalists, institutions, policymakers, funders, and advocates will have access to these materials. The initial cohort of institutions selected to contribute to the Complete College Photo Library includes Bergen Community College, College of Northern New Mexico, College of Southern Nevada, Salish Kootenai College, Pasadena City College, Tougaloo College, and the University of Indianapolis. Complete College America invites media outlets, freelance journalists, education organizations, and researchers to explore and use the new Complete College Photo Library. The collection features authentic, high-quality images that reflect the diversity and experiences of today's college students. Visit to explore and share. ### About Complete College America: Complete College America (CCA) is a bold national advocate for dramatically increasing college completion rates and closing institutional performance gaps by working with states, systems, institutions, and partners to scale highly effective structural reforms and promote policies that improve student success. To learn more about CCA, visit Attachment Complete College Photo Library Media Relations Complete College America (317) 829-0483 [email protected]
